Tufts 1Q membership numbers jump 29%

WATERTOWN, Mass. – Tufts Health Plan had a first-quarter jump in membership of 29 percent in 2012, compared with the first quarter numbers in 2011, rising to 980,000 from 748,031, according to the health insurer.

The increase in membership, explained Sonya Hagopian, spokeswoman for Tufts, was attributed to the organic growth within the organization, and the acquisition of Network Health in the fall of 2011.

No numbers are yet available for the new “Steward Limited Plan,” a new health insurance product offered in partnership between Tufts and Steward Health Care that features a tiered plan within a limited network, according to Hagopian. “The product is still very new,” she explained, having been introduced beginning in January. “It’s best supported with a lot of education in the market along with the benefit of time for people to understand how it works.”

It is anticipated that once Steward completes its purchase of Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, Tufts will consider offering the limited health plan in Rhode Island.

Net income for the first-quarter of 2012 was $5.1 million, based upon investment income of $12.2 million and an operating loss of $7.1 million, with revenue of $951.4 million, according to Umesh Kurpad, Tufts’ senior vice president and chief financial officer.

“We are particularly pleased with our ability to stabilize premiums this year,” said Kurpad. “We also see our membership growth in the first quarter by far as the best endorsement of the overall value we bring to our customers.”

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